The present invention can relate to apparatus and methods for coupling electrical components to a circuit board.
In some cases, an electronic device can include a housing with one or more electrical components and a circuit board. The circuit board can be used to mechanically support and electronically connect the one or more electrical components (e.g., input/output (I/O) components) to one another. Flexible circuits are typically used to couple electrical components to the circuit board.
Electrical components may be mechanically and electrically coupled to the circuit board by flexible circuits before or after the circuit board is disposed in the housing. Therefore, it is generally desirable to provide extra lengths of flexible circuit between each electrical component and the circuit board to facilitate easy insertion of the circuit board and electrical components into their appropriate locations with respect to the housing. Each electrical component and circuit board may be coupled to a respective end of a flexible circuit in such a way that they are grounded at those coupling points. However, a long ground length (i.e., the length between grounded points) of a signal path along a flexible circuit between an electrical component and the circuit board of an electronic device may provide a significant stretch of interconnect that floats, creates resonance, and is susceptible to electromagnetic and radio interference.